Culture

3 books to read this long weekend

Culture

3 books to read this long weekend

Somewhere in between all that turkey and cranberry sauce, you're going to want some down time. Here are the best books to cuddle up with this Thanksgiving!
In the mood for time-travel: (cover above) Scarlett O'Hara she most certainly is not: The heroine of Laird Hunt's Neverhome is the least Southern belle-ish character in a book about the American civil war you'll ever read. In fact, for most of the book, she isn't actually a woman at all. Ash Thompson leaves her husband on the family farm, joins the Union Army in his place...and that's just the first chapter of a love story you'd never believe was actually based in historical fact.
In the mood for a family saga: Until Downton Abbey comes back on air in January, I suggest you get your "intricately woven story about vividly drawn characters all entangled up each other's lives" fix by reading "Tell" by Frances Itani. Like Downton, it takes place just after the First World War, although that's where the similarities end: this is the story of how the citizens of a tiny village called Deseronto begin to heal from the trauma of the past (and deal with secrets many would rather stay buried).
In the mood for music: Whether you grew up with your mom playing her non-stop, or just know that "Both Sides Now" song, you'll find something to surprise you in this quasi-autobiography by Joni Mitchell. Less a tell-all confessional than it is a mood-board, this unconventional book traces the influential singer's creative journey over nearly 70 years.
READ MORE: 10 books you need to read this summer I'm reading: Wake by Anna Hope